The Art Directors Guild (ADG) Film Society and American Cinematheque will present a screening of Errol Flynn’s swashbuckling adventure fantasy The Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938) spotlighting the production design by Academy Award®-winning designer Carl Jules Weyl, as part of the 2015 ADG Film Series on Sunday, June 28, at 5:30 P.M. at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. The ADG “Confessions of a Production Designer” Film Series is sponsored by The Hollywood Reporter.
“Welcome to Sherwood, my lady!” Legendary, beloved, much imitated but never surpassed, The Adventures of Robin Hood is pure escapism epitomizing the very best in classical Hollywood matinee adventure storytelling. Rich in its visual imagination, it remains a case study in film design excellence. Inspired by the romantic illustrations of famed illustrator and artist N.C. Wyeth, Carl Jules Weyl’s masterful designs served well this Warner Bros.’ first venture into three-strip Technicolor productions.
“The Adventures of Robin Hood remains a fitting tribute to the achievements and talent of this exceptional designer, as well as being a reminder of the many less celebrated but equally gifted masters of design who have left us with a visually-inspired legacy,” said Production Designer Thomas A. Walsh, who will be hosting the screening. “Graced with one of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s most admired musical compositions, come cheer-on Robin, Little John, Friar Tuck and the Merry Men of Sherwood Forest in this carefully restored masterpiece, one created for the big screen where it rightfully belongs!”
A favorite of young and old alike, Errol Flynn stars as the famed bandit king of Sherwood Forest who romances Maid Marian (Olivia de Havilland) and leads his Merry Men in a battle against the corrupt Prince John (Claude Rains) and the evil Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone). This film won three Academy Awards®, including Best Art Direction for its Art Director Carl Jules Weyl. In 1995, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film as “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” and was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry.
German-born art director Carl Jules Weyl studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and became a U.S. citizen in 1920. Initially enjoying a successful career as an architect, he designed a number of significant buildings and homes in and around Los Angeles, including the famous Brown Derby Restaurants, the Hollywood Boulevard Building and the Hollywood Palace Theatre. Upon the outset of the Great Depression, Weyl entered film design as an Art Director for Cecil B. DeMille Productions. Eventually joining Warner Bros. under contract from 1934 to 1947, Weyl designed many classic films such as Casablanca, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mission to Moscow and The Big Sleep.
Films remaining in the Art Directors Guild Film Series 2015 are:
• Sunday, July 26 – CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND (2002) at the Egyptian Theatre, followed by a conversation with Production Designer Jim Bissell
Representing the ADG are Film Society Co-Chairs John Muto, Thomas A. Walsh, John Iacavelli and Debbie Patton, ADG Manager, Awards and Events. Working with them are the American Cinematheque’s Gwen Deglise, Margot Gerber, and Grant Moninger. General admission: $11. American Cinematheque members: $7. Students/Seniors with valid ID: $9. All screenings start at 5:30 PM 24-hour information is available at 323-466-FILM (3456).
For information about the 2015 ADG Film Series click here.
To download images from the film, click here.
For ticket information, go to American Cinematheque’s website.
